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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708275">Asphodels</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibrokemymug/pseuds/ibrokemymug'>ibrokemymug</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood and Violence, Denial of Feelings, Did I also mention, Forgive Me, Hanahaki Disease, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, it's been like a month and this is all I have to show for it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:40:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibrokemymug/pseuds/ibrokemymug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"My regrets follow you to the grave" </p><p>That's what the flowers told him, what his old Master had said they meant, even as they blossomed from her own throat. </p><p>Yet he didn't believe for a second that he had a thing to regret.</p><p>(Hanahaki AU whoops-)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kano Shuuya/Snake of Clearing Eyes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Asphodels</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Guess who's back with the unholy rarepair againnnnnn</p><p>And this time we got... slightly altered Hanahaki (well at least I think it's slightly altered from normal, but it shouldn't be anything too painfully obvious) and you know what that means:  a  n  g  s  t</p><p>...I swear all my writing isn't just Kano dying all the time you gotta believe me please-</p><p>Edit: *sigh* forgot to change the publication date...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I.</p><p>The sight before him was one he'd seen many, many times before already.</p><p>Before him, the deceiver was dying with a sick smile plastered on his face. On the ground, he laid on his back with his arms and legs sprawled out around him, spread like the crimson splatters staining the floor underneath his body. The glare he maintained was everything hateful, everything spiteful, everything that screamed <em> "I can't believe I was foolish enough to trust you" </em>, something that the boy couldn't say with his own blood flooded mouth. The snake decided to entertain it, offering a grin back as dark red liquid flowed and slid down the tips of his fingers. Around them, broken and twisted bodies covered the ground, obscured by the very shadows that seeped into Awakening Eyes' body. </p><p>The snake didn't care that the other hated him again, that he forgot, that all the progress from the last timeline and many, many other timelines before it had been long lost in the human years. </p><p>It didn't matter. </p><p>He just needed to keep surviving. </p><p>And that's what he told the boy, sneering openly, as he lifted his gun with bloodstained hands again, aiming straight at the other's forehead. </p><p>"Any last words, Shuuya?" he taunted, staring him straight in the eye.</p><p>Amber eyes darkened and bloomed with hate as a weak grin spilling red grew upon the liar's face one last time...</p><p>"That's <em>Kano</em> to you."</p><p>...before a deafening bang sent his labored breathing silent. </p><p>The snake turned away, keeping a smile still, as wide, pale red eyes stared, horrified, up at him.</p><p>On the floor before him, the Queen knelt in her friends' blood, her quick breathing quickly growing and rising into wails as her gaze searched the bodies laying still around her. Dark scales began forming and blossoming onto her face and arms as her hands slammed down onto the ground, splattering dark red onto her fingers and arms. Her helpless scream split through the air, erupting from her throat, even through the light red petals falling into her hands, almost looking torn at the ends. </p><p>The snake quickly broke into cackles as she continued to yell, scream, <em>cry</em> for her friends to come back. He almost couldn't help doubling over, letting loud and unfiltered laughter force its way through him at the sight. Grinning, he stepped over and crushed some of those fallen petals under his foot, raking them against the ground, staining their pieces a much deeper, shinier red to shimmer against the darkness.</p><p>
  <em> How foolish. </em>
</p><p>He opened his mouth again to taunt her, mock her for her own ridiculousness, only to be quickly cut off as another, far louder cry split through the air. Suddenly, the room around him lit back up with an almost blinding light, drowning away the deep red and the blanketed darkness from the world, until all that remained was nothing.</p><p>Ah, looks like he'll have to wait until next time. </p><p> </p><p>II.</p><p>The girl had leapt off the roof, once again. </p><p>She had left a trail of smeared blood on the ground in her wake, shining red like the ends of her scarf that had followed her over the edge. The splotches and puddles splattered on the ground were lined with petals and flowers, bathing in the spilling yellow sunlight of the bright sunset.</p><p>The snake idly recalled them, another kind of flower that his Master coughed up on occasion. Chrysanthemums, or something with an equally as overcomplicated name. The yellow kind, just like Shuuya’s distraught eyes. </p><p>He'd have to clean up the mess later. </p><p>For now, though, he had bigger matters to deal with. </p><p>He turned back to look beside him, sneering as those cat-like eyes glared silently at him.</p><p>“Unfortunate, is it not?” he shot a quick look back down at the drooping petals of the flowers littering the ground. “Dying in such a pathetic and over dramatic way. Ah, and she left such a scene, too...."</p><p>Shuuya grimaced from where he kneeled, collapsed on his knees on the ground. Tears quickly gathered and fell from his eyes as his hands balled into fists, gripping at the torn and bloodied petals the girl had left behind, before crumpling them with hate-filled eyes. The snake let out a bored hum, kicking and turning over one of the pathetic flowers as the boy shook, finally bursting into resenting tears as he rooted himself to the ground and the last of his sister’s remains.</p><p>Ah, perhaps he'd just be better off leaving the plants here after all. </p><p>Besides, what better way was there to cover up his tracks than this silly disease?</p><p>He just needed one more thing to make this look convincing enough....</p><p>When Shuuya's eyes next flashed red, he took the appearance of a dead girl with a broken form and twisted, stiff limbs. As "she" laid against the cold ground, blood spilled from her mouth and petals clung to her, sticking and attaching to her face and her hair. The flowers peaked out from the image's clothes and unfurled from her mouth as she stayed completely motionless, as if she had been sitting there for days, slowly overgrowing with plants.</p><p>He scoffed, almost laughing. </p><p>It nearly reminded him of Azami. </p><p>Perhaps he'd visit her, after this timeline was over.</p><p>- - -</p><p>This loop had gone on a bit longer than he had... originally anticipated.</p><p>It almost slipped from his mind a couple times, how this Shuuya that had gotten so attached to him was supposed to die. He wasn’t exactly sure how he could’ve forgotten such a thing, how he could be so careless as to almost let the very idea that he'd gotten so used to escape from his mind, but it didn’t matter. Not anymore, not at this point.</p><p>Not when the deceiver himself was the only one left for him to rid himself of.</p><p>Ah, it was still just such a <em>shame</em>, though, how he’d have to dispose of a timeline as pleasant as this one, especially after the disappointment that had been the one before.</p><p>That’s what he ended up telling the liar, coldly and without any <em> real </em> remorse as the other crumpled to the bloodied ground with that pained and naive look in his yellow eyes that never understood a damn <em> thing. </em></p><p>"I just don’t get it...." the words unfurled from the Shuuya’s mouth, laced with weakness and regret and just a hint of desperation as he spoke, staring up at him to avoid the empty gazes of all the corpses slumped and silent around him.</p><p>"What is there that's so hard for you to comprehend?" he rolled his eyes back, letting a merciless smile grow on his face. "Surely you knew how this would be the outcome, that this was your fate, right? Or were you too distracted to recall?”</p><p>Any of the remaining, stubborn hope in the liar's eyes rotted and wilted, only to be replaced with a new sprouting bitterness as the barrel of the gun was pressed against his face.</p><p>"I thought... but...."</p><p>His body collapsed backwards with a panicked sound, his head slamming into the tainted ground as his last good arm gave up on him, now laying limp and useless at his side like his other broken one.</p><p>"But what? You thought you could just <em> ignore </em> the future by burying yourself in ignorance? Tsk, I suppose it’s just as I always said, you’re simply too naive for your own good.”</p><p>A shaky grin formed and twisted on Shuuya's face, tainted with a familiar darkness that he hadn't seen in a while.</p><p>"Just like you always said, huh? Too foolish for my own sake."</p><p>Thorns of resentment seemed to grow into his words, accompanying the following sound of hollowed out laughter.</p><p>Ah, this had already gone on long enough.</p><p>This time, the snake didn't even bother entertaining the deceiver any further with another response. Instead, he simply latched his fingers onto the trigger, pressing it down and watching as the light finally faded from Shuuya's eyes. Finally, that grin rooted to the boy’s pale face withered away, and his body at last went stiff and still, centered in a seeping pool of his own blood.</p><p>The snake gave a small sound of amusement as he observed the now almost silent room, wondering silently if the bodies of any of these children, if they were left to rot long enough, would overgrow with flowers, just like that illusion he had seen just a couple human years ago.</p><p>He looked back over at the Queen again, just as she began choking on petals, drowning in her own misery for her beloved friends as the red of their blood seeped into her dress. Tears ran and dripped down her face, hitting against the broken flowers under her as she clutched the thief's body once more, pleading for it all to be brought back once again.</p><p>...</p><p>From the darkened, lonely depths of the Haze, his old Master glared at him, her red eyes blooming with absolute, unfiltered <em> fury. </em></p><p>Not that he could exactly comprehend <em>why</em>.</p><p><em> “What have you done?!" </em> she screamed up at him.</p><p>Idly, he stared at her form. </p><p>Ah, that foolish disease had truly taken her over over the course of time, hadn’t it? </p><p>Flowers stuck and tangled, as if growing, into the girl’s hair, making the curls resemble dark, twisted vines that had been left growing for centuries, slowly overtaking the soft whites of the petals caught and ensnared between them. Even her clothes and the ground surrounding her seemed to be taken over by the flowers now, as they sat, settled in the folds of her coat and littered around the cold ground, almost all of them dotted with blood. Some of the newer ones stood out, clearly fresh, with how the bright red beads contrasted against the long, white petals, leaving flecks around the reddish brown lines running through them.</p><p>"Asphodels again, hm?" he feigned interest, eyeing the white, red flecked petals, sitting against the bleak darkness. "I suppose it's been just a little while since those last appeared."</p><p>"Answer me, serpent," she spat, even as blood ran from her mouth.</p><p>"Answer to what? I don't know what you're referring to, apart from the usual," the snake said back, rolling his eyes. "Is it <em>really</em> still about the deaths of all those children? I honestly thought you'd be used to this by now."</p><p>Azami's glare only darkened further, boring into him. "Answer this: How could you make such an outrageous claim as loving someone, when you can't even be bothered to let them live?"</p><p>"Hm? It's a requirement, it can't be helped," he dismissed her, uninterested in her outbursts. "Besides, isn't that rather hypocritical? Don't you claim to be the cause for your unfortunate family's unhappiness? Why Shion here is stuck in the Haze now? Why that dear human is dead, when you'd previously been attempting to avoid that for so long?"</p><p>Scarlet eyes widened, before the other doubled over coughing, forcing her hands over her mouth. Dark crimson began running thickly between her fingers as she choked and hacked even more, filling her hands and the crevices of her fingers with flowers.</p><p>The snake watched on boredly, until she finally settled back down, glaring at him again as she took ragged breaths, letting some of the broken pieces flutter to the ground at her feet.</p><p>"You'll come to regret this," she finally hissed out, her eyes narrowing up at him. "It'll be mercy for you, if your feelings were truly fake in the first place. Because if not...."</p><p>She held her hands out, presenting a mass of red tainted petals for him to see, like a messy bouquet. "...You'll have to suffer from it, too."</p><p>He sneered down at the flowers, glistening with bright scarlet. "And you think some pathetic plants are going to have any effect on me? That's quite a silly claim, even for you, Azami.”</p><p>Azami’s glare only deepened, prompting him to continue.</p><p>“My feelings for the deceiver will come and go as they please, on their own whim, throughout each route, and that foolish disease with them. I have nothing to be concerned over."</p><p>The girl grimaced, before finally tipping her hands, spilling away the flowers and letting them fall to the ground, accompanied by dripping blood.</p><p>"<em>Mark my words,</em> Clearing Eyes, it'll only be a matter of time before you, too, are covered in blood and flowers."</p><p>He grinned back. </p><p><em>"We'll see about that."</em> </p><p> </p><p>III.</p><p>“Ah, are you-”</p><p>"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Shuuya stared shakily up at him as he laughed, waving dismissively at the dots of red gathering at his knees.</p><p>He raised an eyebrow, before taking a quick step back as blood suddenly splashed onto the ground before him, forming into a dark puddle, strewn with sunken flowers and broken petals piled in the midst. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he managed to recognize them. Petunias, a variation that he'd seen blossoming from the disease many times already.</p><p>The liar's image flickered and twitched as choked noises left him, until his ability had been stripped from him entirely, leaving him clutching his own throat as he collapsed further to the ground on his knees, red splattering onto the floor from his mouth.</p><p>The snake knelt down to his level, leaning forward to examine, only to be yanked forward as the deceiver reached over and clutched his forearms tightly with his hands, bracing against him.</p><p>Shuuya buried his head into his chest, still choking up and spilling out petals onto the ground beneath him, leaving them to fall and unfurl at his feet. The boy's arms trembled as he clung desperately, leaning only further into him.</p><p>"Shuuya-"</p><p>The aggressive coughing stilled for just a bit, leaving Shuuya to take deep, ragged breaths as his fingers remained rooted to his arms.</p><p>"Heh," the boy let out a small laugh, even as he saw all the petals scattered around them. "Guess it got pretty bad, huh? I can see why people get surgery now."</p><p>The snake hummed. "Maybe you should. At this rate, these <em> flowers </em>are going to kill you before you even get close to the fifteenth, and where would be the fun in that?"</p><p>"Ah, maybe, but Kido and Seto probably wouldn't want me to," the boy sighed out a breath, his hands trembling slightly.</p><p>"I can't see why your foolish siblings wouldn't want to get rid of these," the snake muttered, picking up one of the petals between his fingers, its crumpled edges soaked in red. "Especially if you have to suffer the inconvenience of actually <em> dying </em>from such a pathetic thing."</p><p>"Inconvenience, huh? What's more inconvenient would be how much that'd cost them, I'm pretty sure," Shuuya said, still holding onto him. "I'll probably be<em> fine,</em> and if not, I guess they'll just have one less problem to deal with."</p><p>He snorted. "Fine? At this point, you might as well already be dead."</p><p>Shuuya flinched back a bit, before starting again, his grip on his arms becoming just a little tighter. "Ah, but, not unless I get cured, right?"</p><p>"Well, I suppose that works, too," he quickly muttered back. "But what are the chances they'll even reciprocate? You never know if they'll reject you."</p><p>"That's actually what I'm wondering right now," small, bittersweet fragments of laughter emerged from Shuuya, his hands now shaking slightly. "But, I mean, if I die from it, at least it'd look pretty cool, huh?"</p><p>"Dying by drowning in a mess of plants sitting in your lungs sounds just as pitiful as it is messy."</p><p>"Ah, I guess when you put it that way, it does sound like a hassle to deal with... but then again, aren't I, too? I'm pretty sure that a 'bloody, flower-infested' corpse would be easier to put up with for them than some 'irritating brat', right?"</p><p>The snake stared down at the boy's hopeless grin, the glistening blood running down his chin and the scattered petals littered around them before speaking up again, much more dismissively. "You could be worse. And besides, I'm sure humans don't take the sight of diseased remains very well. The petals are also far more annoying, when they're torn into pieces like this."</p><p>"Are you sure about that?" an amused smirk still managed to make its way to the boy's face, even as his shoulders trembled.</p><p>"I'm... quite sure-"</p><p>Without another moment wasted on hesitation, Shuuya leaned up into him, pressing his crimson stained lips against his own. An air of nervousness and restlessness seemed to envelope the other as the grip on his arms tightened, before he pulled away, still with that uncertain look, as if the kiss, if it could honestly be called that, hadn't even happened at all.</p><p>"How about now?" Shuuya gazed intently up at him, the trail of crimson on his chin now smudged on his face.</p><p>The snake was still staring down at him, just a slight bit more surprised and dumbfounded than he probably should've been. The trace of metallic scent still remained with him as he answered with a grin, leaning over the abandoned petals to meet the deceiver's lips again.</p><p>- - -</p><p>
  <em> Only two more left. </em>
</p><p>He reached out to the ghost without hesitance, hearing her panicked shout and the Queen's cry fill the air, before he quickly snapped her neck. A loud, satisfying <em>crack</em> split through the air, silencing the room, before the girl's body fell, dropping with a thud to the ground to join the rest of her fallen organization.</p><p>Shuuya collapsed on his knees onto the ground not too far from her body with an absolutely <em>sick </em>and <em>mortified</em> look in his eyes as his fingers dug into the ground, rooting him to <em> nothing. </em>His wide, golden-eyed gaze stayed stuck to the floor, seeping with red before they moved back up to him, hurt and terrified yet not surprised in the slightest.</p><p>Sickened laughter, darkened with bitterness bubbled from the boy's throat as a grin stuck itself onto his face. "I guess no matter how many times I tell myself it's gonna happen, there's really never gonna be anyway to be ready for the end, huh?"</p><p>"No matter how hard you'll try to forget, you'll never escape the inevitable future, Shuuya," the snake said back, approaching the other. "You were reminded of this various times, and now here we are, regardless of whether or not you were ready."</p><p>Fingers latched around Shuuya's throat, and it was just then that blood spilled out from the deceiver's mouth to run down his face.</p><p>"...Hm," Shuuya side glanced at the red-splattered wrists by his neck, before letting a sadder, far less stretched smile overtake his features. "I guess at least a part of me always knew this was gonna happen. Still kinda sucks, though, knowing that even through everything you said happened, through everything that I know <em> did </em>happen, you're still gonna...."</p><p>The deceiver couldn't even bring himself to say it.</p><p>"And that's how it's always going to be."</p><p>The all-too common phrase left him before he even considered stopping it, leaving the boy to flinch as an unforgiving and merciless grip tightened on his throat.</p><p>Hands grabbed at his arms, in some futile attempt of escape, yet there were no other signs of struggle as his form was lifted off the ground.</p><p>The snake stared, still uncaring as that smile withered. Suddenly, the once weak grip on his arms tightened, nails digging into skin that didn't feel a thing as Shuuya choked out blood, splattering the murderer's arms with dark red. Small flowers tumbled out from the liar's throat, the soft blue of their petals almost lost in the dark, relentless scarlet they were accompanied by as blood began to drip down the snake's elbows, splashing onto the flower dotted the floor.</p><p>Shuuya let out pointless gasps, helpless golden eyes searching his as he struggled, and failed, to supply himself with oxygen. The snake could see the boy's eyes frantically searching, even as his grip slackened and his coughs weakened, even as he was slowly dragged into unconsciousness. His dulling gaze landed on the snake's arms, staring half lidded at flowers clinging stubbornly to his fingers in the blood, then at the snake's face, before a last tug of a smile made its way to his face, his eyes closing and his body going still.</p><p>When the snake let his corpse fall to the ground, Shuuya had blood smeared across the side of his face. Stained and tainted flowers scattered around him, latched to reddened locks of hair and sticky clothes. The snake gazed down at him, wiping off the blood on his arms onto his clothes, silent as he observed the mess.</p><p>Curiously, he crouched down and picked one of the crinkled sets of petals off Shuuya's face, narrowing his eyes as he recognized their blue hue.</p><p>
  <em> Forget me nots. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> How cliché. </em>
</p><p>He flicked it away, letting it flutter back down to rest once again on the deceiver's face, right by his barely present smile.</p><p>It was only after several moments had passed that the snake realized he'd been staring for far too long, that he still had a task: To reset. He stood again, only to pause again almost immediately as two drops of <em> red </em>hit the edge of Shuuya's mouth. He leaned down to examine, eyes widening as another dot of crimson landed.</p><p>Silent, he reached up to touch his face.</p><p>Yellow eyes narrowed with suspicion, then widened in disbelief as he felt warmth spreading in trails down his face. He stared at his fingers, then down at his feet to see blood that for once <em> was his own, </em>and it was only then that he recognized the feeling of something seeping into his mouth.</p><p>The <em> taste </em>of metal still remained with him, even as the world flashed away in a blinding, bright light, drowning away the crimson droplets.</p><p> </p><p>IV.</p><p>This time, when Shuuya returned, he wasn't coughing up petals and flowers like the days before. Instead, he just had a twisted grin on his face. His beige eyes were uncaring.</p><p>"Ah, so you...."</p><p>"Got 'em removed," the boy shrugged.</p><p>The snake hummed back. "I see."</p><p>"Sure took a lot to convince the others to let me get them removed, you know. Especially since it'd be pretty hard to explain how you could <em>possibly fall</em>for the person that killed your <em> sister</em>."</p><p>The snake scoffed, choosing to ignore the unwelcome taste of copper forming on his tongue.</p><p>"I'd say it was worth it in the end, though," Shuuya laughed, the tone dark and biting. "After all, what kind of person would I be, choosing to be with someone like <em> you? </em>Guess I'll never know!"</p><p>"Ah, and you're not wrong," he decided to point out, sneering. "Since I have no intentions of informing you on the past."</p><p>"Probably for the best," the liar shrugged again. "After all, who knows what those 'past me's or whatever were thinking. I wonder...."</p><p>A sickeningly innocent smile formed on Shuuya's face.</p><p><em> "What did </em> they <em> ever see in some creature like you?" </em></p><p>The snake stilled, turning to glare at him as Shuuya glared right back, completely spiteful and utterly <em> loathing </em>as he searched him for a reaction. </p><p>He opened his mouth to retort, only to double over, gritting and grinding his teeth as thick blood flowed through his mouth and trickled past his lips, leaving a strong, distinct metallic taste behind.</p><p>The grin on Shuuya's face only seemed to grow, stretching further on his features as he watched. The snake forced a hand over his mouth, glaring at the boy as he forced ragged breaths. </p><p>"Looks like I made the right call, huh?" the other snickered as he stared up at him. </p><p>This disease truly was foolish.</p><p>- - -</p><p>Shuuya lay slumped against the wall, clutching his stomach as dark crimson pooled around him, yet he hardly seemed to even care. He smiled, wide and warped as the snake nearly dropped the gun in his hands, blood spilling out from of his mouth and dripping down his chin as he attempted to force back coughs. </p><p>Another, far harsher cough left him almost <em>suffocating</em> on the blood bubbling up his throat, actually dropping his weapon this time. In front of him, Shuuya started chuckling, then laughing, then <em> cackling,</em> then <em>howling</em> until he was wiping tears from his eyes. Whether they were real or not, the snake didn't know.</p><p>And he didn't <em> care.  </em></p><p>He snatched the gun off the ground, yellow eyes blazing with absolute, raw <em> fury </em>as he glared down at the liar collapsed against the wall. </p><p>A sickening, bloodied smile and cold beige eyes met his gaze as he approached the dying boy.</p><p>There wasn't another moment wasted before a bullet was shot between his eyes.</p><p>...</p><p>
  <em> "How unfortunate." </em>
</p><p>His old Master looked down at the ground before him, completely unfazed and perhaps even <em> disappointed </em>as petals rose from his throat and fell to the ground. The snake clenched his fists as the irritating coughing fit finally ended, wiping some of the crimson off his face and onto his sleeve.</p><p>"I told you this would happen," Azami's gaze was unforgiving and unsympathetic as ever as her red-eyed gaze flicked back up to him. "And yet you were foolish enough to not listen, like you thought you were <em> above </em>all this."</p><p>He scoffed, picking the long, white petals off the palm of his hand and throwing them back over his shoulder. "It's hardly more than a minor annoyance, that's all."</p><p>"You say that," she then looked, almost mournfully, at the neglected, crimson stained flowers laid around her. "And yet you claim to understand just what these flowers mean, what them blossoming from your lungs is supposed to signify. If they're truly just a 'minor annoyance', then that means he truly means nothing to you."</p><p>"He-"</p><p>"And even if you tried escaping to such a <em>despicable</em>conclusion, the fact that these even <em>exist</em> now prove otherwise."</p><p>They simply stared at each other from the darkness of the Daze, the splatter of blood and the mess of damaged petals around him almost nothing in comparison to Azami's display. The mass of flowers almost reminded him of a certain place, somewhere else here in the Daze....</p><p>The snake wasn't even aware of Azami examining the fragments of the bloodied petals at his feet, until she spoke up again, with some kind of a disappointed tone that he couldn't quite place. "...Asphodels. I see...."</p><p>"I'm perfectly aware of what they are, by now, since you're coughing them up constantly."</p><p>"Which means I'm sure what you know what they mean, too," Azami's tone quickly turned back to disdain, her gaze hardening.</p><p>He decided to entertain it with a grin. "It doesn't matter what they mean. They'll be gone in only a few human years' time, then they'll go back to meaning <em> nothing. </em>"</p><p>"What a naive idea."</p><p>He turned away, leaving the white pieces in his wake.</p><p>"Perhaps by the next time you come here, you'll have learned your lesson."</p><p> </p><p>V.</p><p>"Hey, I was just wondering...."</p><p>"Hm?" the snake rested his head on Shuuya's shoulder, wrapping his arms around him.</p><p>"Does it even bother you?"</p><p>Ah, this again.</p><p>"What are you referring to?"</p><p>Shuuya remained silent for a moment, before finally speaking up, looking somewhere off to the side. "Do you even mind, when you have to... kill me every time?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>The other's shoulders stiffened, his form tensing as he turned to look at him. "What? You don't care at all?"</p><p>"It may be inconvenient at times, but other than that, why would I?"</p><p>There were a few moments of hesitance before Shuuya spoke up again.</p><p>"I just... thought...."</p><p>"Thought what?"</p><p>He looked curiously up at the boy's conflicted face, before the other simply laughed it off, the sound bouncing hollowly off the walls. "Heh, never mind...."</p><p>Shuuya turned away, forcing his attention back away from him.</p><p>"...It wasn't anything that important, anyway."</p><p>He sincerely doubted it.</p><p>- - -</p><p>The snake kicked away the still remains of the ghost and the captivator, shoving their corpses apart and leaving them off to the side as a smeared trail of spreading blood was left in their wakes.</p><p>Shuuya looked up at him from where he laid, collapsed into a corner, tightly clutching his shoulder as blood ran down his arm, branching out at his hand. He cast him an exhausted smile as he rested against the wall, cat-like canary eyes searching his as the snake aimed the barrel of his gun down at his forehead.</p><p>The other didn't even react as red stained fingers pressed against the trigger. He only continued to stare, his smile wavering only slightly.</p><p>It was only when that sharp pain hit the snake again, when he could feel blood rising up his throat again that Shuuya reacted, his face just slightly more pained as his expression crumpled.</p><p>The snake spat out the liquid with disdain, down at the deceiver's feet, only this time he could feel something else accompanying it. Something logged painfully in his throat. He hacked, coughed, sputtered to get it out, until a long white petal was finally forced out, glinting with blood like a stained knife.</p><p>More petals, torn and shriveled but bloodied all the same, continued to rise, their edges scraping against his throat and the roof of his mouth as they shoved their way past his lips. The snake spat those out, too, until there was nothing but a pile of white, scattered petals at his feet, dark crimson running down their edges and onto the stained floor. He swept them away with his foot, casting them off to the side to shakily aim his gun again.</p><p>This time, there was almost no further hesitance as a bullet was shot into his head.</p><p>It was only when the deceiver's body was still and silent again, empty eyes staring half lidded at the mess of broken flowers on the ground that the snake ended up falling to his knees, doubling over as more blood splattered and splashed to the ground from his mouth.</p><p>It was only when time began turning back once again that he noticed the pair of pale red eyes staring at him from the side.</p><p>...</p><p>"There's a simple way to end this, you know."</p><p>Azami's heavy stare was locked onto him, now stone cold as the tell tale scent of metal tainted the air around them.</p><p>"And what would be the point?" he rasped out. "As irritating as this may be, it's not nearly worth-"</p><p><em> "Irritating?" </em> it didn't take much for the anger to seep back into Azami's eyes. "You may be disgusting, but I'm also perfectly aware that you're not <em> blind." </em></p><p>He wasn't even grinning back this time. He was <em> glaring, </em>with all the spite that Azami had and more.</p><p>"How could you refuse to care, be so heartless as to <em> take his life, over and over again, </em> when you're being told so <em> clearly </em>otherwise?" she hissed, seething and shaking with rage. The flowers entangled in her hair trembled, as of they, too, were agitated.</p><p>"No matter what you claim those flowers say, it still won't be enough to give up this cycle," he shot back, before sneering. "Even if I become as flower infested as <em>you</em>, that aspect will never change, and there's nothing to be done that could convince me otherwise."</p><p>"You're absolutely <em> vile</em>, completely selfish."</p><p>"And I can be just that as much as I want, regardless of what you say. Perhaps I'll even explain it in a way you could understand. Let's put it this way...."</p><p>The girl's rose red eyes widened before he even began.</p><p>"Wouldn't you have paid the cost of vomiting flowers, just as long as it allowed you to keep living to do as you pleased? Maybe even see that man again?"</p><p>He expected, even anticipated for his old Master to begin spitting up petals and blood again, but nothing happened. Instead, her gaze turned steely, hard.</p><p>Resolved, even.</p><p>"I would never turn back on what I had with him," she said. "Even if I have to live with these regrets, these flowers...."</p><p>Fury bloomed in the snake's eyes as Azami's cleared.</p><p>"I would never be so utterly <em> selfish." </em></p><p>Without another word, he left.</p><p> </p><p>VI.</p><p>Shuuya's eyes were wide, staring disbelievingly as he froze. The snake kneeled, choking and coughing up stained asphodels as they rushed up his throat, spilling out over the deceiver's shoulder as they filled and uncurled from his mouth, the petals twisting and shifting as they tumbled out.</p><p>He could hear Shuuya wince as the tight grip on his shoulders increased, long nails digging into his skin as he grit his teeth, settling his head against the boy's shoulder.</p><p>The snake took stuttering, heaving breaths through the poisoning air of blood and the overgrowth of blossoming flowers in his lungs.</p><p>Shuuya sat, tensed, nervous against him, shakily holding the pile of asphodels he'd gathered into his hands.</p><p>He laughed, unsteady and completely uncertain. "Ah... I think I recognize these. They mean regret or something like that, right? What, was there some <em> embarrassment </em>that happened or something?"</p><p>The snake didn't respond, letting out a frustrated hiss as hot beads of blood gushed and rolled down his chin, staining and soaking through the other's jacket.</p><p>"..."</p><p>He could hear rustling as the flowers were dropped back down, into the pool of crimson where they belonged.</p><p>Shaking arms slowly wrapped around his back.</p><p>- - -</p><p>He refused to die.</p><p>He <em> wouldn't </em>die.</p><p>The thought burned itself brightly through the snake's mind as he swiftly drew out his gun, leaving no room for reaction as he immediately shot down Shuuya with three bullets, then the concealer, then the focuser, then all the rest of them until <em>nothing else</em> remained, with almost none of them given even a second to so much as scream. Nothing was left of the children but him and the blood splattered queen. Her terrified red eyes stared wide at him from the midst of the bloodbath as she stood, completely petrified, behind the still form of the thief.</p><p>Hardly a moment passed between them, staring at each other across the red painted sidewalk before the snake collapsed and fell to his knees, clutching his chest with his arms as a flood of flowers spilled out of his mouth, sliding across the blood slickened ground. The ends of their petals raked and fought to escape against the sides of his throat and the sides of his mouth, clogging and jamming and obstructing and <em> restricting </em>any attempts of breathing as they rushed through relentlessly, dragging out thick gushes of blood with them. </p><p>He hardly even recognized when his head hit the ground, the body that he'd thought was near <em> invincible </em>jolting and struggling to take even minimal amounts of air through choked gasps as the asphodels continued to bloom and draw out blood. The snake clawed at the ground in front of him, bracing himself as another wall of pain hit him, wide eyes staring at the fresh and fully blossomed asphodels, crimson beads glinting in the sun as they slid and dripped down the spread petals.</p><p>The snake's body <em> lurched, </em>and he was sure he was about to retch them up again, until he heard footsteps in front of him, hesitant and unsteady.</p><p>Looking up, he could see the Queen standing over him, crimson eyes blazing yet uncertain as they gazed down at him. Just off to the side, behind her, he could see Shuuya's still body, the blurring image of his empty amber eyes still directed towards him as blood ran down his face. </p><p>The sight only seemed to fuel the disease, causing his arms to shake, so he quickly redirected his eyes back up at the Queen, who had knelt down to face him.</p><p>"Why are you still doing this?" she asked, her hands trembling slightly as they clutched at the front of her stained dress. </p><p>"Surely you know why by now," he rasped out, heaving ragged breaths against the ground through the vile stench of blood. </p><p>"But...." </p><p>He grinned against the pool of blood around him, up at the girl. "Ah, what, are you going to try and 'end this' again? To stop this cycle? You already know it's pointless." </p><p>The girl's hands balled into fists as she only shook more, until she finally cried out.</p><p>"How can you stand it?!" the Queen said. "How can you live with this, live <em>like</em> this?!" </p><p>"You mean the flowers?" he continued to sneer. "They're hardly a problem once the timeline resets." </p><p>"They're killing you," she quickly said back. "They're killing- some of the other's too, they're gonna-" </p><p>"Do you <em> really </em>think I'd care if your supposed 'friends' died from a few flowers?" </p><p>This time, the other paused, gazing contemplatively down at him before responding.</p><p>"I know that you care," she finally said. "You know that they can- can kill you. I know that you're actually afraid of them." </p><p>This time he barked out a laugh, spitting out more crimson onto the cold, unforgiving ground. "Afraid? Of these? Why, I could probably just get rid of these, if they get too much in the way-" </p><p>"But you won't, will you?" </p><p>Yellow eyes narrowed up at the girl as she cast her gaze elsewhere. </p><p>"And why wouldn't I?" </p><p>"Because...." </p><p>He was already perfectly aware of what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth. </p><p>
  <em> "He isn't important."  </em>
</p><p>So he cut her off before she could even say anything.</p><p>"But the flowers-" </p><p>He grit his teeth, now glaring up at the Queen. <em> "The flowers are insignificant!"  </em></p><p>"..." the girl stared down at the ground, then back over at him, remorse and something he could almost swear was <em> pity </em> etched on her face. "...Then why did you kill him first? How come you can't even bring yourself to <em> look at him?! </em>Why...." </p><p>"It's-" </p><p>"Why won't you stop when you can't even let him go?! Please...." </p><p>The Queen turned to face him again, this time staring him straight in the eyes, searching as he continued to gasp against the ground. </p><p>"Bring them all back, just one more time...." </p><p>Vision blurring, he saw her eyes blaze red, matching the trails of blood running down her mouth. </p><p>"And please..." </p><p>The asphodels seemed to blend perfectly with the growing white of the world, distinguishable only by the brown lines running down the petals and the crimson dripping down their sides. </p><p>"...Let's end this tragedy, for everyone." </p><p>Staring up once more, the last thing he was met with before the story was set back once again was the faded gaze of regretting amber eyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well that took way too long to write-</p><p>I'm, uh, pretty sure I went overboard with the 40+ minutes I spent trying to research flower meanings and flower language and all that (only to probably get some wrong or for nobody to get them) buut too bad I did it anyway xD </p><p>I would put a list of all the flowers featured in here and what they (or at least from what I gathered) mean, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut *laughs in really lazy and tired author* maybe I'll do that at some point later, since it's late ((assuming I remember :') ))</p><p>Hopefully this didn't turn out too bad (Oh God this sucks doesn't it), 'cause I spent wayyyy too much time working on this (around two weeks or so) but yeah, hope you enjoyed  xD</p></blockquote></div></div>
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